In many facilities such as hospitals and clinics, selected pharmaceutical and supply items (Items) are held in secure storage locations which are often removed from the patients who use them. As new medications and procedures are prescribed by the doctor, or when prescribed medications or procedures become due, the nurse or technician (the User) uses the secure cabinet to obtain these medications or supplies. The processor on each cabinet is programmable to monitor the access to the pharmaceutical and supply items in these fixed cabinets, allowing the current on hand inventory and the need for replenishment to be communicated to a central processor at the central pharmacy and supply storage locations.
When a user logs into the cabinet's processor, they are typically given access to multiple items, stored behind locked doors or drawers, that selectively unlock. Amongst the many items that can be stored in a cabinet, for certain items, it is desirable to limit access to just a single item type, so the processor can record exactly which items were available to the user to be taken. This is particularly true of narcotic medications. In some cases, it is desirable to limit access to on individual item at a time. These more secure process are achieved by storing items in bins within locked drawers and allow access to individual bins to users, such as nurses. The user will typically enter their own personal identification (ID) and the ID of a specific patient to see medications which are approved overall for that selected patient. Specified bins may then be unlocked to provide access to items such as approved medications which are stored in the unlocked bins. However, while allowing access to certain items, these cabinets may still prohibit to other bins to which the user may be restricted from accessing, particularly in the case of narcotics.
However, in order to limit access to specified bins, the lids on each individual bin must be able to lock and unlock when specified and must also be able to do so repeatedly without failure. This selective locking of the lids typically requires the use of various software systems to track user access and further requires mechanical, electrical, or electro-mechanical mechanisms such as solenoids integrated with each individual bin.
Because of the repeated locking and unlocking of individual bins, the tracking of user access, many of these locking mechanisms are subject to failure resulting in lids which may not lock or unlock properly when needed or resulting in the incorrect lids locking or unlocking improperly. Alternatively, the resulting system may be overly complex and difficult to repair or maintain.
Thus, a system which allows for the tracking as well as locking and unlocking of selected lids from a dispensing cabinet in an efficient, reliable, and repeatable manner is desired.